Melt Me
by hummerhouse
Summary: Written for Sherenelle's Shredder-Raph Contest on DeviantArt. Contains turtlecest. Pairing: Shredder-Raph/Leonardo. This story is based on the Shredder-Raph Universe AU created by Sherenelle. In it, the Turtles are in their late 20's.


"I've been so cold. So alone. I walked away from my family and left all of my warmth behind. I learned to live with the ice in my veins, but it hurts. All the time. Like frostbite on the inside of my body."

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"Lie down with me," Leonardo whispered, holding out his hand.

Raphael shuddered, feeling the caress of Leonardo's words across his bare skin. The warmth touched him, briefly, a seductive stranger with a siren's call all its own. He'd forgotten how good it felt.

So much time had passed and Raphael had expected Leonardo to be unapproachable, to be aloof. Here he was though, in Raphael's penthouse apartment. On Raphael's bed.

Their father had not wanted this for them. His intolerance had pushed Raphael from his home, had sent him running to his most devoted friends. With them he'd found a new home, at least for a short time.

Raphael knew that he could not remain forever with April and Casey. They were human and had lives of their own. He could not return to his family for they were no longer his and he did not want them to know of his whereabouts.

He was and always would be a warrior. This left Raphael with a single option. It was a bold move he chose to take, but being audacious was a part of his character.

Raphael joined the Foot clan. He might never had made such a move except he'd learned that Karai had changed and had in turn changed the Foot clan's mission. It was now aligned with everything Raphael believed; that his city should be protected.

With no family and no ties, Raphael spent every waking hour serving the Foot. He gained respect as a soldier, then as a squad leader, then as a lieutenant. Finally one day years later, Karai proposed the idea that Raphael should become the new Shredder.

Raphael accepted. He now sat atop the throne, directing his lieutenants and his Elite guards. Under his control the Foot grew and the world learned that mutant kind existed. Not everyone accepted this revelation, but over time the mutant detractors grew fewer and fewer.

There was much to be thankful for. Raphael controlled a wealthy, world-wide organization. He had more material possessions than he could ever have hoped for. Women and men alike threw themselves at him, more than willing to share his bed.

The trysts were fleeting things. Sex was of little interest since there could be no true closeness. The once hot blooded mutant was but a frosted image of himself.

Raphael's heart belonged to a brother. A brother who had chosen to remain loyal to a bigoted parent. A brother who he had not seen or heard from in ten years. It was the same with all three of his brothers. They were everything to him, they were his soul. The closest beings in the world to him; his own kind. And they were lost to him.

So Raphael's heart turned to ice.

His feelings remained cold and bitter things, softened only occasionally by certain friends to whom he'd grown close. It was the voice of a child that had finally ploughed through the frozen center of his psyche and emboldened Raphael to undertake a journey halfway around the world in search of his brother.

Raphael had found Leonardo and brought him back to New York. Their reunion had not been easy nor smooth. But that rockiness, with its familiarity, had done more to ease Raphael's uncertainty than anything else could have.

Now they were here, in Raphael's bedroom. Leonardo waited patiently, his hand out, his gaze unwavering. This would not be the first time the pair had engaged in an act of intimacy since Leonardo's return, nor would it be the last.

Each time they shared one another, Raphael was thawed just a little more. The memories of his loneliness throughout the past ten years were fading gradually, every touch of Leonardo's hands taking away another layer of Raphael's solitude.

When Raphael sat upon his throne, his retainers bowing at his feet, his thoughts were often not on the reports he was receiving, but upon his latest coupling with his brother. Those thoughts were secret, kept from everyone, including Leonardo. Becoming the Shredder meant building a wall between his feelings and the enemies who might use those emotions against him.

Leonardo seemed to know that there was a part of Raphael that had not been shared with him. Yet. Having spent years in Japan, training with monks, Leonardo had gained a tranquility that allowed him the patience to peel back the layers of Raphael's trapped spirit. Working past the stoicism that Raphael had mastered took time, and they now had all of the time in the world.

Raphael walked to the bed, slid one knee across the sheets, and took Leonardo's hand. His brother quickly pulled him forward, lifting him forcefully onto the bed and into his solid arms.

Their mouths fit together perfectly, as did their bodies. Hands and fingers roamed expertly across hard muscle to softer, hidden places. Their groans and churrs danced together in the darkened space, turning it into an erotic ballroom.

Moving almost as one, Leonardo lay back on the mattress and opened himself up to his brother. Raphael took his place between muscular legs, wordlessly taking possession of the form beneath him.

Just as they'd done in endless battles, the pair performed in perfect unison. The heat that had begun to build suddenly turned to liquid fire, scalding them both with its intensity.

Afterwards they lay together, holding each other, heavy breaths twining between them. When Raphael shuddered, Leonardo moved closer, one arm across his brother's plastron as though protecting him from his own insecurities.

"Whatever it is that haunts you, whatever uncertainty or unease still lays beneath your skin, I need you to know that I am here for you, Raphael," Leonardo whispered against his brother's head.

"If I pinch myself I don't have to worry I'll wake up from this dream?" Raphael asked, a touch of humor in his voice.

"Not a dream this time," Leonardo assured him. "I'm very real and I'm not going anywhere. You have my fealty and you have my love. You have me. If you require more, then I have it to give."

Raphael stared at the ceiling, his hand tracing patterns on Leonardo's bicep. "I want my passion back," Raphael said softly. "The passion that once fired the blood in my veins. You're the one who always gave that to me."

"Then I'll continue to work hard to warm you," Leonardo told him.

Reaching over to catch the edge of Leonardo's shell, Raphael pulled his brother onto his lap. His desire had grown with each of his brother's words, until he was hard and ready to fill Leonardo once again.

"Do more than that Leo," Raphael begged, "because you're the only one who can."

Leonard straddled him, using leverage to angle his body into position.

"Tell me what you need," Leonardo urged.

To which Raphael replied, "Melt me."


End file.
